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The Church of the Transfiguration in the village of Rakov

Rakov

Churches, katolik churches, сathedral, monasteries

The Church of the Transfiguration is one of the most important architectural monuments, located in old-aged Rakov thirty-five kilometers in north-west fr om Minsk. This shrine foundation was laid in 1735 on the initiative of Kiev Metropolitan Athanasius Sheptytsky under a Basilian Catholic monastery.

Monastery abbot Adrian Papkovsky became the founder of the community of Holy Righteous Anna. A large-scale stone temple building was begun on that place with the help of this community, and with the assistance of the owner of Rakov lands Prince Casimir Sangushko.

However, the construction stretched for a long time. Its most important stages had been completed by 1793, almost six decades after the beginning of the construction. In September of the same year, the temple was marked with the consecration to the Transfiguration glory.

After forty seven years and during the celebration of the twenty fifth anniversary of the serfdom abolition on the territory of Belarus, a belfry appeared in front of the shrine. The royal temple was adorned with an old-aged chandelier, purchased for the money collected by parishioners in 1899. Some part of it was handed over to the All-Russian priest by the name of John of Kronstadt. Because of this, the old church in the village of Rakov is in excellent condition and flourishes today.

Currently Transfiguration shrine represents an orthogonal monastery. St. Nicholas Chapel, where, in fact, the altar is, located on the south side, and a sacristy is situated in the north. Initially, two towers decorated the main facade of the church. But during the restoration they were dismantled, the arch was removed as well, as a result Holy Transfiguration Church acquired present unique look.

There is a deeply venerated by the parish icon in the church, which is called "Athos". This is a copy made from the Mother of God icon called "Akafistskaya" or "Predvozvestitelnitsa", which was awarded in 1910 to the church by Mount Athos hermits at the insistence of the previous abbot Konstantin Okolovich. The copy was made on a board of cypress. It was here, on Mount Athos, wh ere several significant Christian shrines were placed in ancient times: the parts of the Holy Cross, the Blessed Virgin Mary tomb, the holy relics of St. Haralambos and Gregory Palamas.

Due to the internal and external decoration, Rakov temple has been included in the number of the best churches of Minsk diocese.

In the village of Rakov there are few more sights, which are of interest for tourists coming here. However, it goes without saying that most people come here for the sake of the Transfiguration Church sacred icons. Anyone who is planning to stay in Rakov is to visit this amazing temple.

In addition, built in 1862 the Catholic chapel of St. Anne, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, the crypt-tomb-Drutsk Lyubetsky and Felix Yanushkevich ethnographic museum are of great interest for the visitors.